The US House of Representatives yesterday voted to hold former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress after he ceased to cooperate with the Jan. 6 committee investigating the Capitol insurrection — making it the first time the chamber has voted to hold a former member in contempt since the 1830s.
The near-party-line 222-208 vote is the second time the special committee has sought to punish a witness for defying a subpoena. The vote is the latest show of force by the Jan. 6 panel, which is leaving no angle unexplored — and no subpoena unanswered — as it investigates the worst attack on the Capitol in more than 200 years. Lawmakers on the panel are determined to get answers quickly, and in doing so reassert the congressional authority that eroded while former US president Donald Trump was in office.
“History will be written about these times, about the work this committee has undertaken,” US Representative and committee chairman Bennie Thompson said. “And history will not look upon any of you as a martyr. History will not look upon you as a victim.”
Photo: Reuters
The two Republican votes — Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, who serve on the committee — in favor of the resolution came after nine Republicans voted to hold former Trump ally Steve Bannon in contempt in October. While Bannon’s case was more clear-cut — he never engaged with the committee at all — Meadows had turned over documents and negotiated for two months with the panel about an interview. Meadows also has closer relationships within the Republican caucus, having just left Congress last year.
Meadows was also Trump’s top aide in the White House, giving him more plausible grounds to claim executive privilege. Bannon had not worked in the White House since 2017.
The US Department of Justice would also be weighing those factors as prosecutors decide whether to move forward with the case. If convicted, Bannon and Meadows could each face up to one year behind bars on each charge.
US Representative Jamie Raskin, another panel member, began Tuesday’s debate on the resolution by reading frantic texts from the day of the attack revealing members of Congress, Fox News anchors and even Trump’s son urging Meadows to persuade the outgoing president to act quickly to stop the three-hour assault by his supporters.
Republicans called the action against Meadows a distraction from the House’s work, with one member calling it “evil” and “un-American.”
“Make no mistake, when Democrats vote in favor of this resolution, it is a vote to put a good man in prison,” US Representative Jim Jordan said. Trump also defended Meadows in an interview, saying: “I think Mark should do what’s right. He’s an honorable man. He shouldn’t be put through this.”
Meadows’ attorney, George Terwilliger, defended his client in a statement before the vote, saying that he had provided documents to the panel and maintaining that he should not be compelled to appear for an interview.
“The select committee’s true intentions in dealing with Mr Meadows have been revealed when it accuses him of contempt citing the very documents his cooperation has produced,” Terwilliger said.
Meadows has sued the panel, asking a court to invalidate two subpoenas that he says are “overly broad and unduly burdensome.”
Democrats quoted at length from Jan. 6 text messages provided by Meadows while he was cooperating with the committee.
“We need an Oval Office address,” Donald Trump Jr texted, the committee said, as his father’s supporters were breaking into the Capitol, sending lawmakers running for their lives and interrupting the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory. “He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand.”
“He’s got to condemn this s_- ASAP,” Trump Jr wrote.
In response to one of Trump Jr’s texts, Meadows said: “I’m pushing it hard. I agree.”
Cheney, the panel’s vice chairwoman, said at the committee’s Monday evening meeting that an important issue raised by the texts was whether Trump sought to obstruct the congressional certification by refusing to send a strong message to the rioters to stop.
“These texts leave no doubt,” she said. “The White House knew exactly what was happening at the Capitol.”
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